Doubts And Shadows
by The Vampire's Missus
Summary: Oneoff. An accident? A deliberate act by a rogue officer? Insp. Gina Gold and PC Reg Hollis have their doubts when two officers are injured.


Doubts And Shadows

Inspector Gina Gold surveyed the scene. Bricks, timber and metal piping were strewn around the place. "Right, I'll need reports from everyone present. How are my officers?", she asked Reg, who was trotting alongside her as she walked around the derelict building.

Reg replied, "Andrea's gone in the ambulance to St Hugh's...Gary's got concussion and bruising,I think. He should be okay to talk to soon...but the Sarge is in a bad way. He came down on the scaffolding with the kid...er, Danny Lorne."

Gina sighed, "Danny Lorne, he's never been in this much trouble before, has he? Just petty vandalism and a bit of shop-lifting...do we know his condition?"  
Reg nodded, "Same as the Sarge, I'd assume...He never did anything off his own initiative, usually been led on by older kids. Hopefully Gary, Gabriel or the Sarge got an ID on the other one."

"Where is Gabriel, anyway?", Gina scowled.

Reg shrugged, "I dunno...he must've chased after the other one...he's been gone a while...I'll give him a call, Ma'am. 416 from 171, location, please?"

There was a pause, then the reply, "416 receiving, Just coming back now...I lost the other kid..."  
Reg looked at Gina as she stood listening to the probationer's reply. She was staring into the distance with a strange look on her face.

"Ma'am?", Reg queried.

"Hmmm? Just thinking about the kid...I don't want this to end up as a death in custody.", Gina replied, watching Gabriel walk back to them. "Ah, Constable...tell us the story, then."

Gabriel coughed, then started, "Me and Sgt. Smith were called to the mugging on Kellett St. Kerry and Yvonne arrived at the same time, so they tended to the victim, while we chased the two boys. They ran into there...", he nodded at the doorway at the end of the building. Gary and Andrea arrived just then. The Sarge told them to go around to the side entrance and try and cut them off. Me and the Sarge went in this door. The kids ran up the stairs and we followed. Then they separated. Sarge told me to follow one of them, the one in the hooded blue sweater. He ran down the other stairs and out the back...I chased him along the canal, but lost him...sorry Ma'am...I didn't recognise him, but I'll go back to the nick and go through the mug-shots now, if you don't need me anymore?"

"So you didn't see the accident?", Gina probed.

"No, Ma'am."

"Right, off you go, and I want a written report on my desk waiting!", Gina replied. "Reg, St. Hugh's!"

Andrea quickly finished her tea as Gina and Reg approached. "Ma'am! They'll let us see Gary in a few minutes. They're setting his broken arm now. Sgt. Smith is in X-ray at the moment. They haven't told me how bad the boy is, though."

Gina nodded, "Right. Tell me what happened."

Andrea replied, "Gary and I were in the panda when we heard the mugging call, we weren't close enough to attend, but then Sgt Smith gave the location of the warehouse, which was close to us, so we attended as back-up. Sarge told Gary and I to go in the side entrance. When we got inside, we heard running footsteps from upstairs. We saw the two boys running on the mezzanine level, followed by Sgt Smith. The boy in the blue sweater ran over to an outside stairwell and I shouted to the Sarge that I'd follow that one. He shouted back, "Good girl!", then "Gary, get this one!". I saw Gary sprint towards the stairs, as I ran over to the back door to follow the other kid. I managed to stay with him until the timber yard near the canal...but then I lost him. I think the kid was Johnny Marwood."

Reg raised his eyebrows, "Johnny Marwood's a nasty piece of work. GBH are his 3 favourite letters. Lucky you didn't corner him by yourself, Andrea."

Gina was about to question Andrea further, when a doctor came over. "Inspector Gold ...Sorry, but Danny Lorne died a few minutes ago...he had a multiple fractures to the skull and internal bleeding. His parents are on the way, they don't know yet..."

Gina closed her eyes and sighed deeply, "_Christ! That's all we need now_...", she thought bitterly. She said, "I'll make sure I speak to them when they get here...What about Sgt. Smith?"

"I'll find out for you...", the doctor said, and hurried off,

Gina turned back to her two officers, "Right, we now have a death in custody. That means it's vitally important that your report is detailed, clear and accurate. Andrea, you're being thrown in at the deep end, but I have every confidence in you."

The doctor returned and said, "Sgt. Smith is having a CAT scan. He also has a broken leg and compund fracture of the arm. We'll let you know when he wakes up. PC Best has a broken arm and internal bruising, he's still in shock a little bit, but you can see him now."

Gina sent Andrea back with Reg, and radioed for Cameron to come and wait at the hospital. She followed the doctor to Gary's room and sat down next to his bed.

Gary was dozing, but woke and sat up as Gina smiled at him.

"Ma'am? How's the Sarge?", he said, worry written all over his face.

Gina patted his hand and said, "He'll be okay. Can you tell me what happened?"

Gary closed his eyes for a moment, then started, "Andrea and I went to assist the Sarge, at the old warehouse. We were told to go in the side door. When we got in, the Sarge was chasing two boys on the upper level - the marzipan level, yeah?"

Gina smiled at this, "Go on..."

"Well, the two kids split up. This Johnny Marwood went to the outside stairs and Andrea said she'd get him. Sarge told me to cut off the other one...Danny Lorne. So, I ran to the stairs, there was a scaffolding near the stairwell...next thing I know, this scaffolding is coming down around me...then this wall collapsed...then...there's this crying and shouting...I couldn't move my arm...I was stuck under all this rubble...there was dust everywhere, and I was choking and coughing...I yelled at Gabriel to get me out... but I don't think he heard me...the Sarge and the kid...I couldn't see them...are they okay...I couldn't see them anymore...", Gary started to cry and Gina hugged him as he sat there shaking.

Gina left Gary and thought of what to say to the boy's parents. Informing of a death was always draining, and there was the added wrinkle of the death being in custody. She sighed as the doctor waved her over to the private waiting room.

Later in the shift, Gina sat in her office reading the reports of Andrea and Gabriel. She laid them side-by-side and compared them. A knock on the door interrupted her chain of thought,.

"Yes, Reg!"

Reg hovered in the doorway, "Ma'am...I was thinking about something..."

Gina waved him in and he shut the door.

"I was talking with Andrea about what happened and she said about chasing the Marwood boy out the door. Later, I was chatting with Gabriel. Well, he said he was chasing the boy, too. I thought it a bit odd that they hadn't mentioned each other. Was it possible they had missed seeing each other?", Reg asked.

Gina pondered for a moment, "You know, Reg? Sometimes you're an absolute genius. I was just thinking that. Come on, get your coat. I'm meeting with the building engineer, and I want to try something!"

Reg waited nearby as the building engineer, Ngoc Le, packed up her lap-top and spoke with Gina.

"Well, I can tell you that this building was sold to developers and some work was started on it. The developers apparantley went bust and didn't finish - in fact, they barely started! The outer shell is structurally sound. However, the internal wall they started is a prime example of 'cowboy' builders. Too much sand in the mix for a start. The scaffolding is badly erected and the floor-boards of the mezzanine level are rotting. ", Ms Le said.

Gina sighed, "So, this could have collapsed at any time? No reason to suspect tampering?"

Ngoc pondered, "Give that scaffolding a good push and it could come down. It's possible that the weight of the people running up there set off enough vibrations to collapse it."

Gina nodded, "Okay, thanks. You've been a great help, Ms Le."

Gina and Ngoc shook hands and she walked back to her car.

Gina waved Reg over and they went and stood in the middle of the warehouse. "Now, Reg...Gabriel said he was on the mezzanine level with Smiffy. The building engineer said that it's too dangerous to fool around up there, so just go round to the doorway."

Gina and Reg moved to the doors and walked outside. They couldn't see each other as they walked forwards. Gina scrambled over a small grassy knoll and looked around. She glimpsed Reg walking along a path half, hidden by trees. She could see that it was possible for two people to run alongside each other like this, without each seeing the other.

"Okay, let's go back. I want to check the radio logs."

"Dean, can you print out the radio logs from this afternoon's incident?", Gina asked.

Dean tapped a few keys and the screen lit up with green text, "Okay, Ma'am...here's the 4 officers involved." He tapped some more keys then leant over to the printer and took the sheets and handed them to Gina.

Gina went back to her office and sat down. She looked across to the empty Sargent's Office and half-expected to see the familiar sight of Smiffy and his West Ham mug, buried under with paperwork. She took a sip of her coffee and placed all the reports in a square on the desk. She read and re-read them and rearranged the papers, but ended up frustrated. Something was amiss with the radio reports from Gabriel and Andrea. But, after her walk with Reg, she began to think she was looking for a red herring.

At the hospital, Smiffy stirred and opened his eyes. His head felt like it was on fire and he was sore all over. He blinked and the shape in front of him came into focus. A smile took over Yvonne's face as she looked down at him, "How are you feeling, Sarge?", she asked softly.

Smiffy croaked in reply and coughed, then he sighed and whispered, "I feel like Humpty Dumpty, if you must know!"

As a nurse came in to check him over, Yvonne went outside and radioed to Gina.

Gina listened and smiled in relief and replied that she was on the way.

10 minutes later, Gina was sitting by Smiffy's bed. She held his hand and asked, "Can you remember what happened?"

Smiffy stared into the distance, "I can remember chasing the boys into the warehouse...but after that, it's all a blank."

Eventually, the painkillers took effect and Smiffy drifted off to sleep.

Gina went to talk to the doctor, but he wasn't ready to say if Smiffy would eventually remember what had happened.

Unsettled and unsatified, Gina headed back to the nick.

She poured a drink and swirled it around in the glass, thinking.

Was it possible that Gabriel had pushed the scaffolding, either deliberately to cause injury, or just to stop the boys from escaping? She wondered if he was capable of something like that. The scaffolding could also have easily collapsed at any time, and the paths that Andrea and Gabriel took could have hidden them from each other. She had a bad feeling about Gabriel, but no evidence to back up her instincts.

The rest of the relief had gone to the pub. They had drifted off into small groups to chat and drink. Reg stood by the wall and watched Gabriel as he told jokes and did impressions. Something was nagging at Reg's mind, but it was hard to put into words, an uneasy feeling about Gabriel...something he hadn't felt since Des. Reg made a mental note to himself to keep an eye on Gabriel from now on.

Gina stared at the papers, hoping for an answer to leap out at her. Then, she gathered them together and put them back in their folder. This was something that she would have to let go of, at least for now. She didn't like an unsolved case, and this one was even more frustrating. All she had were doubts and shadows.

She poured another drink and toasted the absent Smiffy, "Maybe not this time, but there will be another time. That's my promise to you, Dale."

The End


End file.
